Operating apparatus for elevator

ABSTRACT

In an elevator having destination buttons provided on halls of a plurality of floors for appointing destination floors requested by waiting passengers, an operating apparatus for controlling operations of the elevator which is capable of tracking movement of waiting passengers that have depressed the destination buttons. Upon detecting that a passenger has gotten into the cage, only the destination call requested by this passenger is automatically registered as a cage call, whereas the destination call of a passenger not having gotten into the cage is cancelled. A destination call requested by a passenger is also cancelled under the condition that this passenger has egressed from the elevator hall.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to an elevator for a building having halls whichare equipped with hall buttons that simultaneously perform an operationfor calling a cage and an operation for registering a destination flooraboard the cage. More particularly, it relates to improvements in anoperating apparatus for an elevator in which the movement of a waitingpassenger having depressed such a hall button is tracked so as toregister or cancel the call made with the hall button.

Usually, an elevator is so constructed that a hall call is registered bythe use of an up button or down button installed in a hall and a cage iscalled on the basis of the hall call. A passenger who has gotten in thecage registers a cage call by the use of a destination button installedin the cage, so as to operate the cage to a desired floor. In thismanner, with the conventional elevator, the call buttons need to berespectively manipulated in the hall and the cage.

In recent years, therefore, an elevator furnished with hall destinationbuttons by means of which desired floors are directly registered hasbeen proposed in, for example, the official gazette of Japanese PatentApplication Publication No. 57-24310. This elevator has such advantagesthat a destination button need not be depressed in a cage, and thatsince the destination floor of a waiting passenger is known early, thegroup supervision performance is enhanced and the display of a waitingtime becomes accurate.

However, even when the waiting passenger has depressed the up or downbutton or the destination button (hereinbelow, collectively termed `hallbutton`) in the hall, he/she may not get in the called cage by, e.g.,utilizing a stairway or turning back at the recollection of anotherthing to do. Then, the cage having arrived undergoes a wasteful stoppingoperation, which may offend passengers in the cage and lengthen thewaiting periods of time of other waiting passengers in the other halls.

Since some persons depress hall buttons out of mischief, the abovesituation is liable to occur and lowers the operating efficiency of theelevator.

In order to eliminate the drawback, an elevator described in thespecification of Japanese Patent Application No. 58-147611 registers thecage call of a destination floor upon acknowledging that a waitingpassenger has gotten in a cage, in such a way that increase in theoutput of a weighing device disposed under a cage floor is detected orthat a charging device is disposed near the doorway of the cage,whereupon the interception of a light beam crossing the doorway isdetected.

With the prior-art passenger detection method, for example, in a casewhere two or more passengers have gotten in the cage, it is impossibleto detect which destination buttons the respective waiting passengershave depressed. Eventually, therefore, when any waiting passenger didnot get in the cage, a cage cell is wastefully registered, and a problemsimilar to the foregoing still occurs.

Furthermore, as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model ApplicationLaid-open No. 50-76563, an elevator is equipped with a waiting passengernumber-detecting device in each hall. Upon detecting that, in spite ofthe registration of an up call or down call, there is no waitingpassenger in the elevator hall, the elevator system decides that the upcall or down call has been registered out of mischief, and it cancelsthe registration of the up call or down call.

Since, however, the waiting passenger number-detecting device detectsonly the number of waiting passengers in the elevator hall at the timeof cage assignment, the decision of the mischievous calls is limited. Byway of example, in a case where the presence of one waiting passenger atthe third floor is detected and were both the up call and the down callhave been registered at this time, obviously either call is themischievous call. Nevertheless, the prior-art system cannot decide whichcall is the mischievous call. Eventually, a cage has been wastefullycalled.

Further, circumstances are similar as to the elevator whose halls areequipped with the destination buttons. Unless the situation where nowaiting passengeer is in the elevator hall is established, which call isthe mischievous call cannot be decided, and the lowering of theoperating efficiency cannot be prevented.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention has been made in order to eliminate such problems, andhas for its object to provide an operating apparatus for an elevatorwhich can cancel the registration of a wasteful call to enhance theoperating efficiency of the elevator.

According to the present invention in an elevator having hall controlpanels installed in the halls of a plurality of floors of a building andhaving destination buttons, the hall calls corresponding to destinationfloors requested by the waiting passengers are registered, so as tocause an assigned cage to respond to the hall calls and the cage calls,an operating apparatus includes decision/control means to determine thedestination floors to be serviced by the assigned cage in response tomovement of the passengers.

The passenger's movement is tracked by measurement means. When it hasbeen thus detected that a passenger requesting a destination floor hasgotten in the cage, any destination call registered by passengers notgetting in the cage is respectively cancelled by the decision/controlmeans, and the corresponding cage call of the destination floorappointed before getting in the cage is registered.

Furthermore, the decision/control means also determines whether or notthe waiting passenger has egressed from the elevator hall, in accordancewith the output of the measurement means so as to cancel theregistration of halls calls requested by the waiting passenger, under atleast the condition that the waiting passenger has egressed from theelevator hall.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the general arrangement of anembodiment of an operating apparatus for an elevator according to thisinvention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a system arrangement in the elevatoroperating apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the arranged position of atelevision camera in the elevator operating apparatus;

FIG. 4 is a view for explaining the functions of dynamic displacementmeasuring instruments in the elevator operating apparatus;

FIG. 5(a) is a diagram showing the memory map of a RAM included in agroup supervision device in the elevator operating apparatus, while FIG.5(b) is a diagram showing the memory map of a ROM included in the groupsupervision device;

FIG. 6 is a circuit diagram of a hall call registration circuit in thegroup supervision device;

FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram of a cage call registration circuit for cageNo. 1 in the elevator operating apparatus;

FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing the general operating flow of a decisionprogram stored in the aforementioned ROM; and

FIGS. 9 and 10 are flow charts each showing a subprogram in FIG. 8.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

Now, an embodiment of an operating apparatus for an elevator accordingto this invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1-10. FIG. 1is a general arrangement diagram for clearly illustrating thearrangement of the embodiment. In the arrangement of FIG. 1, afive-story building is furnished with two cages; cage A (=cage No. 1)and cage B (=cage No. 2). The halls of first-fifth floors 1F-5F arerespectively equipped with hall control panels 1P-5P each of which hasdestination buttons for appointing destination floors, and measurementmeans 1Y-5Y to analyze the images of television cameras, therebytracking the movements of waiting passengers in the respective halls andoutputting the positions of the waiting passengers.

A group supervision device 6, which is disposed in a machinery roomlying at the uppermost part of the building, is constructed ofdecision/control means 7 to command the cages No. 1 and No. 3 toregister the cage calls of the destination floors appointed with thehall control panels 1P-5P and to decide whether or not the cage call isa wasteful call and command the cages to cancel the wasteful call, inaccordance with the outputs of the measuring means 1Y-5Y, and hall callregistration/allotment means 8 to register up calls and down calls forcalling the cages to the halls and the destination calls for appointingthe destination floors and to select the best cages for serving the hallcalls (hereinbelow, the up call, the down call and the destination callshall be collectively expressed as such) and deliver assignment signals,in accordance with the manipulations of the destination buttons of thehall control panels 1P-5P at the respective floors.

Cage control devices 9A and 9B, which are similarly disposed in themachinery room, are respectively constructed of cage call registrationmeans 10A and 10B to register the cage calls in accordance with theoutputs of the decision/control means 7, and operation control means 11Aand 11B to control basic operations such as the operations of openingand closing the doors of the cages, in addition to the running orstoppage of the cages and the determination of the running directions ofthe cages for causing the cages No. 1 and No. 2 to respond to the hallcalls allotted to the cage calls.

FIG. 2 is a system arrangement diagram of the embodiment in FIG. 1. InFIG. 2, the same portions as in FIG. 1 are assigned identical symbols.Symbol 3X denotes a television camera which is connected to themeasurement means 3Y at the third floor and which is installed on theceiling of the elevator hall of the third floor as shown in FIG. 3.Symbols 31B, 32B, 34B and 35B denote destination buttons destined forthe first floor, second floor, fourth floor and fifth floor, which aredisposed in the hall control panel 3P of the third floor as also shownin FIG. 3. Symbols 3DA and 3DB in FIG. 3 denote hall doors for the cagesNo. 1 and No. 2, respectively.

Symbols 31Z, 32Z, 34Z and 35Z indicate well-known dynamic displacementmeasuring instruments, which analyze an image picked up by thetelevision camera 3X of the third floor, in a short cycle (for example,10 times per second), to individually track the movements of the waitingpassengers of the third-floor ball having depressed the destinationbuttons 31B, 32B, 34B and 35B destined for the first, second, fourth andfifth floors and to provide the positions of the passengers as positionsignals 31Za, 32Za, 34Za and 35Za taken along an X-axis and a Y-axis (tobe described later), respectively.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the image picked up by the television camera3X. The X- and Y-axes and measurement starting point of the dynamicaldisplacement measuring instruments 31Z, 32Z, 34Z and 35Z are alladjusted as shown in FIG. 4 beforehand. The X-axis is set near thedoorway of the elevator hall on the side of the cage No. 1, while theY-axis is set near the hall doorways of the cages No. 1 and No. 2. Themeasurement starting point is set at a position (X₀, Y₀) correspondingto the front surface of the hall control panel 3P.

Accordingly, on the X-Y coordinates, the elevator hall is expressed by arange of 0≦X≦X_(M) and 0≦Y≦Y_(M), and the positions of the doors of thecages No. 1 and No. 2 are respectively expressed by X=0 and Y_(AL)≦Y≦Y_(AH), and X=0 and Y_(BL) ≦Y≦Y_(BH).

In this embodiment, the darkest spots of the image of the televisioncamera 3X (corresponding to the heads of the waiting passengers of thehall) are detected, and the centroid positions thereof are deemed thepositions P of the waiting passengers. Around the darkest spots, awindow W of suitable size is set (in consideration of the size of onewaiting passenger viewed from above through the television camera 3X,the size of the window W is preset to the extent of overlapping no otherwaiting passenger).

By setting the window W, even when there are a large number of otherdark spots (corresponding to the heads of other waiting passengers), themovement of one predetermined waiting passenger can be tracked withoutbeing affected by the other dark spots.

Automatic tracking command signals 61Z, 62Z, 64Z and 65Z arerespectively input to the dynamic displacement measuring instruments31Z, 32Z, 34Z and 35Z. When the automatic tracking command signals 61Z,62Z, 64Z and 65Z are respectively set at "H" (high level), the automatictracking of the darkest spots in the windows W is started.

If the measuring instrument has missed the darkest spot within thewindow W during the automatic tracking, it continues to produce apositional data output immediately before the missing. Besides, when theautomatic tracking command signals 61Z, 62Z, 64Z and 65Z arerespectively reset to "L" (low level), the position P of the waitingpassengers are returned to the measurement starting point (X₀, Y₀)again, and the windows W are set at the initial position accordingly.

Numeral 12 in FIG. 2 indicates a passenger action deciding device(corresponding to the decision/control means 7 in FIG. 1) which isconstructed of a microcomputer disposed in the group supervision device6, and which comprises a CPU 13, a ROM 14, a RAM 15, an input circuit 16and as output circuit 17.

The input circuit 16 is supplied with signals from the measurement means1Y-5Y (the measurement means 1Y, 2Y, 4Y and 5Y are not shown in FIG. 2)and hall control panels 1P-5P (the hall control panels 1P, 2P, 4P and 5Pare not shown in FIG. 2) installed at the respective floors, and alsosignals concerning the registration state and allotment state of thehall calls and the cage state such as cage positions and directions,from a hall call registration circuit 18 (to be described later), anassignment circuit 19 (to be described later) and the cage controldevices 9A, 9B.

On the other hand, the output circuit 17 supplies the automatic trackingcommand signals 61Z, 62Z, 64Z and 65Z for the dynamic displacementmeasuring instruments 31Z, 32Z, 34Z and 35Z at the third floor, as wellas automatic tracking command signals for dynamic displacement measuringinstruments (not shown) at the other floors, and cage call registrationcommand signals 41A-45A which become "H" when the decision device 12commands the cage No. 1 to register the cage calls of the firstfloor-fifth floor respectively, as well as similar cage callregistration command signals 41B-45B for the cage No. 2.

Further, the hall call registration circuit 18 is supplied with commandsignals which serve to cancel the destination calls registered with thehall control panels 1P-5P. Among the command signals, those 31R, 32R,34R and 35R are destination call cancelling command signals which become"H" when the destination calls of the third floor destined for the firstfloor, the second floor, the fourth floor and the fifth floor arerespectively cancelled.

The hall call registration circuit 18 is disposed in the groupsupervision device 6, and registers or cancels the hall calls (up calls,down calls and destination calls) in accordance with the manipulationsof the hall control panels 1P-5P of the respective floors.

The assignment circuit 19 similarly disposed is a well-known assignmentcircuit which selects the best cage to serve the hall call and assignsit. By way of example, this circuit predictively calculates periods oftime required for the cages to respond to the hall calls of therespective floors, and the cage adapted to minimize the periods of timeis allotted.

Cage call registration circuits 20A and 20B are respectively disposed inthe cage control devices 9A and 9B. Well-known operation controlcircuits 21A and 21B similarly disposed control the basic operationssuch as the operations of opening and closing the doors of the cages, inaddition to the determination of the running or stoppage and the runningdirections of the cages in order to cause the respective cages No. 1 andNo. 2 to respond to the calls.

FIGS. 5(a) and 5(b) are diagrams showing memory maps in the RAM 15 andthe ROM 14, respectively. In FIG. 5(a), symbols SA and SB denote at-stopdata items which become "1" when the respective cages No. 1 and No. 2are at a stop, and symbols PA and PB denote cage position data itemswhich express the cage position floors (=1-5) of the respective cagesNo. 1 and No. 2.

Symbol CCA(I) (I=1, 2, 3, 4, 5) denotes cage call data items whichbecome "1" when the cage calls of the cage No. 1 for the firstfloor-fifth floor have been registered, while symbol CCB(I) (I=1, 2, 3,4, 5) denotes similar cage call data items concerning the cage No. 2.

Letter I indicates a variable corresponding to any of the destinationbuttons of the hall control panels 1P-5P. By way of example, at thethird floor, I=1, corresponds to the destination button 31B destined forthe first floor, I=2 the destination button 32B destined for the secondfloor, I=4 the destination button 34B destined for the fourth floor, andI=5 the destination button 35B destined for the fifth floor.

Although a destination button corresponding to I=3 does not exist in thehall control panel 3P of the third floor, apparently the operation ishandled as if the destination button destined for the third floorexisted.

Destination button data items B3(I) (I=1, 2, 4, 5) become "1" when thedestination buttons 31B, 32B, 34B and 35B of the hall control panel 3Pof the third floor have been depressed, respectively. Destination calldata items E3(I) (I=1, 2, 4, 5) become "1" when the destination calls ofthe third floor destined for the first floor, second floor, fourth floorand fifth floor have been registered, respectively.

Symbol PX3(I) (I=1, 2, 4, 5) denotes the X-coordinate data items of thewaiting passenger positions P received from the dynamic displacementmeasuring instruments 31Z, 32Z, 34Z and 35Z for the third floor, whilesymbol PY3(I) (I=1, 2, 4, 5) denotes the Y-coordinate data items of thesame.

Automatic tracking command data items T3(I) (I32 1, 2, 4, 5) become "1"when the commands of automatic tracking are respectively given to thedynamic displacement measuring instruments 31Z, 32Z, 34Z and 35Z for thethird floor, and become "0" when the automatic tracking is ended.

Destination call cancelling command data items D3(I) (I=1, 2, 4, 5)become "1" when the destination calls of the third floor destined forthe first floor, second floor, fourth floor and fifth floor arecancelled, respectively.

Symbol R3A(I) (I=1, 2, 4, 5) denotes cage call registering command dataitems which become "1" when the cage No. 1 is commanded to register thedestination calls of the third floor for the first floor, second floor,fourth floor and fifth floor as the cage calls respectively, whilesymbol R3B(I) (I=1, 2, 4, 5) denotes similar cage call registeringcommand data items concerning the cage No. 2.

Although not shown in the figure, data items for the first floor, secondfloor, fourth floor and fifth floor corresponding to the various dataitems B3(I), E3(I), PX3(I), PY3(I), T3(I), D3(I), R3A(I) and R3B(I) forthe thrd floor are also set in the RAM 15.

Symbol CA(I) (I=1, 2, 3, 4, 5) denotes cage call registering commanddata items for outputting which become "1" when the cage No. 1 iscommanded to register the cage calls of the first floor-fifth floorrespectively, while symbol CB(I) (I=1, 2, 3, 4, 5) denotes similar cagecall registering command data items for outputting concerning the cageNo. 2.

Meanwhile, symbols YAL and YAH in the ROM 14 indicated in FIG. 5(b)denote fixed data items which express the Y-coordinates of the positionsof the door of the cage No. 1 and which are respectively set at `100`and `300`. Likewise, symbols YBL and YBH denote fixed data items whichexpresss the Y-coordinates of the positions of the door of the cage No.2 and which are respectively set at `400` and `600`. Symbol YM denotesfixed data which expresses the Y-coordinate of the position of theboundary of the elevator hall on the side of the cage No. 2, and whichis set at `700`.

FIG. 6 is a circuit diagram of the hall call registration circuit 18corresponding to the third floor. In the figure, numerals 301, 302, 304and 305 designate destination call signals which become "H" when thedestination calls of the third floor destined for the first floor,second floor, fourth floor and fifth floor have been registered,respectively.

Symbols 33U and 33D denote an up call signal and a down call signalwhich become "H" when the up call and down call of the third floor havebeen registered, respectively.

Symbols 31Ba, 32Ba, 34Ba and 35Ba denote destination button signalswhich become "H" when the destination buttons 31B, 32B, 34B and 35B ofthe third floor destined for the first floor, second floor, fourth floorand fifth floor have been depressed, respectively.

Shown at numerals 71-74 are memories each of which is constructed of aflip-flop. When the points S of the respective memories are suppliedwith the destination button signals 31Ba, 32Ba, 34Ba and 35Ba of "H",the contents of the memories are set to "H". When the points R of therespective memories are supplied with the destination call cancellingcommand signals 31R, 32R, 34R and 35R of "H", the contents of thememories are reset to "L" even if the signals of "H" are input to thepoints S.

Output signals from the points S of the memories 71 and 72 are passedthrough an OR gate 75 and are provided as the down call signals 33D,while output signals from the points S of the memories 73 and 74 arepassed through an OR gate 76 and are provided as the up call signals33U. The hall call registration circuits 18 of the other floors aresimilarly arranged.

FIG. 7 shows the cage call registration circuit 20A of the cage No. 1.In the figure, symbols 401A-405A denote cage call signals which become"H" when the cage calls of the first floor-fifth floor have beenregistered in the cage No. 1.

Cage position signals 51A-55A become "H" when the cage No. 1 lies at thefirst floor-fifth floor, respectively. An at-stop signal 50A becomes "H"when the cage No. 1 is at a stop at the hall of any floor. These signalsare set by the operation control circuit 21A of the cage control device9A.

The corresponding one of the cage position signals 51A-55A is applied toone input terminal of the corresponding one of AND gates 82-86, and theat-stop signal 50A is applied to the other input terminals of the ANDgates 82-86 in common. Outputs from the AND gates 82-86 are applied tothe points R of memories 77-81.

The at-stop signal 50A becomes "H" when the cage No. 1 is at a stop atthe hall of any floor. It is set by the operation control circuit 21A ofthe cage control device 9A.

The memories 77-81 are similar to those 71-74 in FIG. 6, and therespective points S thereof are supplied with cage call registeringcommand signals 41A-45A. The cage call registration circuit 20B of thecage No. 2 is similarly arranged.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing the whole decision program stored in theROM 14 of the passenger action deciding device 12, and FIGS. 9 and 10are flow charts showing subprograms in FIG. 8.

Next, the operation of the embodiment will be described with referenceto FIGS. 1-10. The decision program of the passenger action decidingdevice 12 shown in FIG. 8 is executed every 0.1 second in accordancewith steps 101-105.

In the cage state input program of a step 100, signals are input fromthe cage control devices 9A and 9B through the input circuit 16, to setthe at-stop data SA and SB, the cage position data PA and PB, and thecage cell data CCA(1)-CCA(5) and CCB(1)-CCB(5). In addition, the cagecall registration command data items for outputting, CA(1)-CA(5) andCB(1)-CB(5) are all initialized to "0".

Subsequently, in the respective decision and control programs of thesteps 101-105, the operations of tracking the actions of waitingpassengers at the first floor-fifth floor are respectively controlled,and the contents of the actions are decided so as to control theelevator operations (the registration and cancellation of the calls) inaccordance with the decisions. These circumstances will be explainedalong the steps 107-113 of the decision/control program 103 for thethird floor.

First, at the step 107, the variable I corresponding to the halldestination buttons 31B, 32B, 34B and 35B of the third floor isinitialized to "1".

Next, at the step 108, signals are applied through the input circuit 16from the destination button indicated by the variable I, the dynamicdisplacement measuring instrument corresponding thereto and the hallcall registration circuit 18, to set the destination button data B(I),the waiting passenger position data PX3(I), PY3(I) and the destinationcall data E3(I) (the data items corresponding to I=3 are all set to"0").

Subsequently, the step 109 decides whether or not the dynamicdisplacement measuring instrument corresponding to the variable I isautomatically tracking the waiting passenger who has depressed thedestination button corresponding to the variable I. If the instrument isnot automatically tracking the waiting passenger, the automatic trackingcommand data T3(I) is "0", and hence, the control flow proceeds to thestep 110.

The step 110 decides whether or not the automatic tracking of the actionof the waiting passenger is to be started, and whether or not thecommand signal concerning the call registration is to be reset. Now,this step will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 9.

A step 120 in FIG. 9 decides whether or not a destination callcorresponding to the variable I has been registered. Before thedestination call is registered, the destination call data E3(I) is "0",and hence, the control flow proceeds to a step 121. Here, thedestination call cancelling command data D3(I) is reset to "0", andamong the destination call cancelling command signals 31R, 32R, 34R and35R, the corresponding signal is delivered as "L" to the hall callregistration circuit 18 through the output circuit 17.

If the destination call has been registered, the control flow proceedsto a step 122, which delivers the destination call cancelling commanddata D3(I) as it is.

Next, a step 123 decides whether or not the destination buttoncorresponding to the variable I has been depressed. If the destinationbutton corresponding to the variable I has not been depressed at thethird floor, the destination button data B3(I) is "0". Therefore, thecontrol flow proceeds to a step 125, which outputs the automatictracking command data T3(I) as it is.

However, assuming by way of example that I=4 hold, in other words, thata passenger destined for the fourth floor have entered the elevator halland have depressed the destination button 34B for the fourth floor infront of the hall control panel 3P, the destination button signal 34Babecomes "H", so that the destination button data B3(4) is set to "1".

On this occasion, accordingly, the control flow proceeds from the step123 to a step 124, at which the automatic tracking command data T3(I) isset to "1", and the automatic tracking command signal 64Z is deliveredas "H" through the output circuit 17.

Thus, the dynamic displacement measuring instrument 34Z begins toautomatically track the action of the waiting passenger (=destined forthe fourth floor) within the window having been set in front of the hallcontrol panel 3P.

Meanwhile, when the destination button 34B has been depressed, thedestination button signal 34Ba becomes "H" in the hall call registrationcircuit 18 in FIG. 6 (at this time, the destination call cancellingcommand signal 34R is of "L"). Therefore, the content of the memory 73is set to "H", whereby the signal 304 of the destination call destinedfor the fourth floor becomes "H" and also the up call signal 33U of thethird floor becomes "H" through the OR gate 76. In the assignmentcircuit 19, the up call 33U of the third floor is allotted to the cage,e.g., No. 1 predicted to be quickly responsive.

Subsequently, steps 126-128 decide whether or not the cage callregistering command data R3A(I) for the cage No. 1 is reset, and steps129-131 decide whether or not the cage call registering command dataR3B(I) for the cage No. 2 is reset.

In this case, as will be described later, when it has been detected thatthe passenger having depressed the destination button corresponding tothe variable I has gotten in the cage, the cage call registering commanddata items R3A(I) and R3B(I) are respectively set to "1". Further, thecage call registering command data items for outputting, CA(1)-CA(5) andCB(1)-CB(5) are generated on the basis of the above data items set to"1" and are delivered to the cage call registration circuits 20A and20B.

Thus, once the cage calls have been registered according to thesecommands, the functions of the cage cell registering command data itemsR3A(I) and R3B(I) end.

This will be explained as to the cage No. 1. At a step 126, if the cageNo. 1 is a stop at the third floor and in spite of the command ofregistering a cage call, the corresponding cage call has not beenregistered yet, then the cage position data PA="3", the at-stop dataSA="1", the cage call registering command data R3A(I)="1" and the cagecall data CCA(I)="0" hold. The control flow therefore proceeds to a step128, at which the cage call registration command data R3A(I) is heldintact at "1", and further, the outputting cage call registrationcommand data CA(I) is set to "1" and is delivered to the cage callregistration circuit 20A of the cage No. 1 through the output circuit17.

When the cage No. 1 lies at any floor other than the third floor(PA≠"3"), or when it lies at the third floor but is in any state (forexample, a decelerating state) other than the stopped state (SA="0"), orwhen it is at a stop at the third floor but has already had thecorresponding cage call registered (CCA(I)=1), the control flow proceedsto a step 127. Here, the cage call registration command data R3A(I) ofthe cage No. 1 is reset to "0", and the outputting cage callregistration command data CA(I) at that time as left intact is deliveredto the cage call registration circuit 20A of the cage No. 1 through theoutput circuit 17.

As regards the cage No. 2, the decision of the resetting of the cagecall registration command data R3B(I) and the outputting of the cagecall registration command are similarly carried out by steps 129-131.

In this way, when the dynamic displacement measuring instrumentcorresponding to the variable I is not automatically tracking thewaiting passenger, the step 110 decides whether or not the automatictracking of the action of the waiting passenger is to be started andwhether or not the command signal concerning the call registration is tobe reset.

Next, assuming at the step 109 in FIG. 8 that the dynamic displacementmeasuring instrument corresponding to the variable I be automaticallytracking the waiting passenger, the automatic tracking command dataT3(I) is "1", and hence, the control flow proceeds to a step 111.

This step 111 decides whether or not the automatic tracking of thewaiting passenger is to be ended and whether or not the command signalconcerning the call registration is to be set. Now, this step will bedescribed is detail with reference to FIG. 10.

A step 140 in FIG. 10 decides whether or not the waiting passengerhaving depressed the destination button corresponding to the variable Ihas gotten in the cage No. 1. Assuming that the waiting passenger havingdepressed the destination button corresponding to the variable I=4,namely, the waiting passenger destined for the fourth floor have gottenin the cage No. 1 at the third floor, the cage position data of the cageNo. 1 and the at-stop data thereof are PA="3" and SA="1" respectively.Further, when the position data items of the waiting passenger destinedfor the fourth floor are assumed PX3(4)=-10 and PY3(4)=200, PX3(4)<0 andYAL(=100)<PY3(4)<YAH (=300) hold. Therefore, the control flow proceedsto a step 141.

Here, the cage call registration command data R3A(4) for the cage No. 1is set to "1". Further, the outputting cage call registration commanddata CA(4) is set to "1" and is delivered to the cage call registrationcircuit 20A of the cage No. 1 through the output circuit 17.

On this occasion, in the cage registration circuit 20A of the cage No.1, the cage call registration command signal 44A becomes "H". Therefore,the content of the memory 80 is set to "H", the cage call signal 404A ofthe fourth floor becomes "H" and the cage call of the fourth floor isregistered in the cage No. 1.

When the step 141 is followed by a step 145, the cancellation commanddata D3(4) for the destination call destined for the fourth floor is setto "1" and the destination call cancelling command signal 34R isdelivered as "H" to the hall call registration circuit 18 through theoutput circuit 17.

On this occasion, in the hall call registration circuit 18, the contentof the memory 73 is reset to "L", and the destination call signal 304for the fourth floor is reset to "L". If, at this time, the destinationcall 305 for the fifth floor has not been registered, the up call signal33U of the third floor is also reset to "L".

Besides, at the step 145, the automatic tracking command data T3(4) isreset to "0", the automatic tracking command signal 64Z is delivered as"L" to the dynamic displacement measuring instrument 34Z through theoutput circuit 17, and the position signal 34Za of the waiting passengerreturns to the measurement starting point (X₀, Y₀) and the window is setat the initial position accordingly.

Circumstances are similar in a case where the waiting passenger havingdepressed the destination button corresponding to the variable I=1, 2 or5 has gotten in the cage No. 1. The cage call registering command dataR3A(I) and the destination call cancelling command data D3(I) arerespectively set to "1", the automatic tracking command data T3(I) isreset to "0", and the corresponding signals are delivered.

In a case where the waiting passenger having depressed the destinationbutton corresponding to the variable I has gotten in the cage No. 2, notin the cage No. 1, the control flow proceeds from the step 141 to a step142 and then to a step 143, at which the cage call registration commanddata R3B(I) for the cage No. 2 is set to "1" and the outputting cagecall registration command data CB(I) is set to "1".

Further, at the step 145 following the step 143, as in the case of thecage No. 1, the destination call cancelling command data D3(I) is set to"1", the automatic tracking command data T3(I) is reset to "0" and thecorresponding signals are delivered.

When it has not been decided that the waiting passenger having depressedthe destination button corresponding to the variable I has gotten in thecage No. 1 or the cage No. 2, the control flow proceeds along the step140-the step 142-a step 144, which decides whether or not the waitingpassenger has egressed from the elevator hall.

Assuming that at the third floor, the waiting passenger having depressedthe destination button corresponding to the variable I=4, namely, thewaiting passenger destined for the fourth floor have egressed from theelevator hall through the elevator hall doorway on the cage No. 1 sideand that the position data items of the waiting passenger becomePX3(4)=200 and PY3(4)=-10, then PY3(3) holds, and hence, the controlflow proceeds to the step 145. Here, the cancellation command data D3(4)for the destination call destined for the fourth floor is set to "1" andis delivered. Eventually, the destination call signal 304 for the fourthfloor is reset to "L".

At this time, if the destination call 305 for the fifth floor has notbeen registered, the up call 33U of the third floor is also reset to"L".

Further, at the step 145, the automatic tracking command data T3(4) isreset to "0" and is delivered. Eventually, the automatic tracking of thedynamic displacement measuring instrument 34Z ends.

Circumstances are similar in a case where the waiting passenger hasegressed through the elevator hall doorway on the cage No. 2 side(PY3(I)>YM). Further, circumstances are similar in cases of the othervariable values, I=1, 2 and 5.

In a case where the waiting passenger having depressed the destinationbutton corresponding to the variable I is awaiting the arrival of thecage in the elevator hall of the third floor, the control flow proceedsalong the step 140-the step 142-the step 144-a step 146. Here, theoutputting cage call registration command data CA(I), CB(I), destinationcall cancellation command data D3(I) and automatic tracking command dataT3(I) which are stored in the RAM 15 are delivered to the hall callregistration circuit 18 and the dynamic displacement measuringinstruments 31Z, 32Z, 34Z and 35Z through the output circuit 17 as theyare.

When the dynamic displacement measuring instrument corresponding to thevariable I is automatically tracking the waiting passenger in thismanner, the step 111 decides whether or not the automatic tracking ofthe waiting passenger is to be ended and whether or not the commandsignal concerning the call registration is to be set.

When the process of the step 110 or the step 111 in FIG. 8 has ended,the step 112 counts up the variable I by "1" and the step 113 decideswhether or not the processes of the steps 108-111 have ended as to allthe variable values I=1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.

If the processes have not ended, the control flow returns to the step108 again, whereupon the same steps 108-113 are repeated for a newvariable value I. When the processes have ended for all the variablevalues I, the process of the decision and control program 103 for thethird floor ends.

In order to facilitate the formation of the program, the steps 108-113are wastefully operated even in the case where neither of thecorresponding destination button and dynamic displacement measuringinstrument exists (the case of I=3). However, no problem is posedbecause at the step 108, all the items of the destination button dataB(I), waiting passenger position data PX3(I), PY3(I) and destinationcall data E3(I) are set to "0" beforehand, and also at the step 100, theitems of the outputting cage call registration data CA(I), CB(I) are setto "0".

The decision and control programs 101, 102, 104 and 105 for the otherfloors, namely, for the first floor, second floor, fourth floor andfifth floor respectively are formed similarly to the decision andcontrol program for the third floor, and function similarly.

The cage call registered as described above is cancelled in thefollowing way. For example, in a case where the cage call of the cageNo. 1 for the fourth floor has been registered; when the cage No. 1 hasarrived and stopped at the fourth floor, the fourth-floor cage positionsignal 54A becomes "H" and the at-stop signal 50A becomes "H" in thecage call registration circuit 20A in FIG. 7. Therefore, the output ofthe AND gate 85 becomes "H", the content of the memory 80 is reset to"L" and the fourth-floor cage call signal 404A becomes "L", so that thecage call for the fourth floor is cancelled. Circumstances are similaras to the cage calls for the other floors and the cage calls of the cageNo. 2.

In this manner, in the embodiment, the action of a waiting passenger whohas depressed the destination button of a hall control panel installedin the hall of each floor is tracked, and when it has been detected thatthe passenger has gotten in a cage, a destination call appointed by thepassenger is registered in the cage as a cage call, while at the sametime, the registration of the destination call is cancelled.

Further, when it has been detected that the waiting passenger hasegressed from the elevator hall without getting in a cage, theregistration of the destination call appointed by the waiting passengeris cancelled, upon deeming that the waiting passenger no longer needs toutilize the elevator for any reason.

Accordingly, the wasteful calling of a cage and the wastefulregistration of a cage call are avoided, and the operating efficiency ofthe elevator can be enhanced.

Besides, in the embodiment, a destination call made by a waitingpassenger other than the waiting passenger who has gotten in the cage isnot cancelled even upon the arrival of the cage, unless the otherwaiting passenger gets in the cage. Therefore, in a case where the otherwaiting passenger could not get in the cage on account of the fullcapacity or the like, he/she can be saved from the trouble of appointinga destination floor again.

While, in the embodiment, the destination buttons disposed in the hallcorrespond to the respective floors in one-to-one fashion, the way ofdisposing the destination buttons is not restricted thereto. Forexample, as described in the specification of Japanese Utility ModelRegistration Application No. 58-191194, it is also easy that in adepartment store, a hotel or the like, destination buttons are disposedfor the respective desired places (such as salesrooms or guest rooms) ofwaiting passengers, whereupon cage calls are registered with thedestination buttons corresponding to floors at which the desired placesexist.

In this case, the actions of waiting passengers can be tracked for therespective desired places. Therefore, even when at least two waitingpassengers whose destination floors are the same but whose desiredplaces are different have gotten in individual cages, there is notinvolved the inconvenience that the cage call of the destination floorof either passenger is not registered in the cage in which thispassenger has gotten.

In addition, means for appointing the destination floors or desiredplaces is not restricted to the destination buttons, but it may wellutilize voice, ten-key, magnetic cards for identifying persons, etc.

Further, regarding the measuring instrument for tracking the action of awaiting passenger, the input signal thereof is the image of thetelevision camera in the foregoing embodiment, but the former is notrestricted to the latter. By way of example, an object to be handled maywell be tracked on the basis of an input signal from an infrared cameraor based on an ultrasonic oscillator and receiver, or a specified signal(e.g., electric wave) produced from the waiting passenger and receivedby a receiver may well be used as the input signal for the tracking.

Moreover, while the embodiment has referred to the elevator in which nodestination buttons are provided in the cages, it is to be understoodthat this invention is also applicable to an elevator in whichdestination buttons are provided in both the halls and the cages. Thenumber of cages is not restricted to two, but the invention is readilyapplied to an elevator including a single cage or at least three cages.

The embodiment is so constructed that when a waiting passenger hasgotten in a cage having arrived, the cage call of his/her destinationfloor is registered. However, the operating apparatus of the inventionis readily constructed so that before a cage arrives, for example, whena cage has been assigned to a destination call, the corresponding cagecall is registered in advance, and that the cage call is held registeredif a waiting passenger gets in the assigned cage upon the arrival ofthis cage at the hall of the passenger, whereas the cage call iscancelled if not.

As described above, in an operating apparatus for an elevator whereinthe halls of the floors of a building are furnished with destinationbuttons for appointing the floors or the specified places thereof andwherein the destination button is depressed to register hall callsconsisting of a call for calling a cage and a destination call forappointing a destination floor and also to register the cage call of theappointed destination floor, so as to cause the cage to respond to thehall calls and the cage call, this invention consists in that the actionof a waiting passenger having depressed the destination button istracked by measurement means and is decided by decision/control means inaccordance with the output of the measurement means so as to give thecommand of registering or cancelling the calls. Therefore, the wastefulstops of the cage can be reduced.

What is claimed is:
 1. In an elevator having hall control panelsinstalled in halls of a plurality of floors and having destinationbuttons, hall call registration means provided on said hall controlpanels for registering calls corresponding to destination floorsrequested by waiting passengers, cage call registration means forregistering cage calls corresponding to the destination floors, andoperation control means responsive to the hall calls and the cage callsfor assigning a cage to serve the requested destination floors, anoperating apparatus for controlling operation of the elevator comprisingmeasurement means for tracking movement of the waiting passengers andfor generating outputs representative thereof, and decision/controlmeans responsive to the outputs of said measurement means fordetermining the destination floors to be serviced by said cage by thecalls requested by the passengers.
 2. An operating apparatus for anelevator according to claim 1 wherein, when the outputs of saidmeasurement means indicate that the waiting passengers have gotten intothe assigned cage, said decision/control means registers as the cagecalls the halls corresponding to the destination floors requested by thewaiting passengers.
 3. An operating apparatus for an elevator accordingto claim 1 wherein, when the outputs of said measurement means indicatethat one of the waiting passengers has gotten into the assigned cage,said decision/control means registers as the cage call the hall callcorresponding to the destination floor requested by the waitingpassenger getting on and cancels the hall calls requested by otherwaiting passengers who have not gotten into the assigned cage.
 4. Anoperating apparatus for an elevator according to claim 1 wherein saidmeasurement means comprises television camera means for generating animage for each of the passengers waiting in the hall, and dynamicdisplacement measurement means for analyzing the images generated fromsaid television camera means so as to track the movement of the waitingpassengers and to detect positions thereof.
 5. An operating apparatusfor an elevator according to claim 4 wherein said television camerameans is installed in a ceiling of the hall so as to generate the imagesof the waiting passengers from above.
 6. An operating apparatus for anelevator according to claim 4 wherein said television camera meansprovides a darkest spot in each image of a waiting passenger, and saiddynamic displacement measurement means detects and tracks the movementof the darkest spots so as to detect the positions of the waitingpassengers.
 7. An operating apparatus for an elevator according to claim6 wherein said dynamic displacement measurement means sets a window ofpredetermined size around each of the darkest spots such that there arenot overlapping spots therebetween and that movement of one darkest spotcorresponding to the position of a passenger can be tracked withoutbeing affected by another dark spot corresponding to the position ofanother waiting passenger.
 8. An operating apparatus for an elevatoraccording to claim 1 wherein said measurement means provides a referencemeasurement operation starting point at a place where said hall controlpanels are located.
 9. An operating apparatus for an elevator accordingto claim 1 wherein, when said measurement means has erroneously missedan image of a waiting passenger, an output is produced corresponding topositional data of the waiting passenger immediately before the missingimage.
 10. A operating apparatus for an elevator according to claim 1wherein, when the hall calls are registered on said hall control panels,said measurement means is immediately activated to start tracking themovement of the waiting passengers in the hall.
 11. An operatingapparatus for an elevator according to claim 1 wherein said measurementmeans tracks the movement of the waiting passengers on an individualbasis and said decision/control means determines the destination floorsto be serviced by individually selecting between registering andcancelling the calls which correspond to the respective waitingpassengers.
 12. An operating apparatus for an elevator according toclaim 1 wherein said decision/control means cancels the hall callscorresponding to the destination floors requested by the waitingpassengers when the requested hall calls have already been registered inthe assigned cage.
 13. In an elevator having hall control panelsinstalled in halls of a plurality of floors and including hall buttons,hall call registration means provided on said hall control panels forregistering hall calls corresponding to destination floors requested bywaiting passengers, cage call registration means for registering cagecalls corresponding to desired destination floors, and operation controlmeans responsive to the hall calls and the cage calls for assigning acage to serve the requested destination floors, an operating apparatusfor controlling operations of the elevator comprising measurement meansfor tracking movement of the waiting passengers and for generatingoutputs representative thereof, and decision/control means responsive tothe outputs of said measurement means for determining whether or not thewaiting passengers have egressed from the elevator hall and forcancelling the registration of the hall calls requested by the waitingpassengers under at least a condition that the waiting passengers haveegressed from the elevator hall.
 14. An operating apparatus for anelevator according to claim 13 wherein the hall buttons of said hallcontrol panels are destination buttons for designating floors to beserved.
 15. An operating apparatus for an elevator according to claim 13wherein the hall buttons of said hall control panels include up buttonsand down buttons for requesting a cage to move in an up direction and adown direction, respectively.
 16. An operating apparatus for an elevatoraccording to claim 15, wherein said hall call registration meansregisters up calls and down calls in response to the depressions of theup buttons and the down buttons, respectively.
 17. An operatingapparatus for an elevator according to claim 13 wherein said cage callregistration means registers the cage calls corresponding to the desiredfloors in response to the depressions of destination buttons disposed inthe cage.
 18. An operating apparatus for an elevator according to claim14 wherein said measurement means tracks movement of individualpassengers waiting in the hall and having depressed the destinationbuttons.
 19. An operating apparatus for an elevator according to claim15 wherein said measurement means tracks movement of the individualpassengers waiting in the hall and having depressed the up buttons andthe down buttons.
 20. An operating apparatus for an elevator accordingto claim 16 wherein said decision/control means cancels the registrationof the up calls or down calls based on the up buttons or down buttonsdepressed by the waiting passengers under at least the condition thatthe waiting passengers have egressed from the elevator hall.
 21. Anoperating apparatus for an elevator according to claim 13 wherein, upondetecting that the waiting passengers having depressed the hall buttonsdo not get in the cage, said decision/control means determines whetherthe waiting passengers have egressed from the elevator hall.